News

Health Department Polls Community on City’s Top Health Concerns

Health survey for residents and workers available through Sept. 30

August 29, 2013

The Cambridge Public Health Department is launching a survey to identify the biggest health and social issues facing Cambridge.

The 10-minute online survey can be accessed at: http://tinyurl.com/cphdsurvey. Printed copies are also available at the health department, 119 Windsor Street, Cambridge. The survey is open through September 30.

The health department is working with local agencies to ensure that a wide range of people will be able to participate in the survey.

“I encourage people who care about Cambridge to take the survey,” said Claude Jacob, Chief Public Health Officer and director of the Cambridge Public Health Department. “A successful plan for addressing the health needs of Cambridge depends on strong input from you, your neighbors, and co-workers.”

In addition to the survey, the health department organized focus groups this summer to seek input from youth, seniors, immigrants, people of color, civic leaders, and other groups.

This information-gathering process is part of a comprehensive health department initiative to:

Understand the health needs and concerns of people who live or work in Cambridge.

Identify the city’s strengths and challenges in providing a healthy environment for all residents and workers.

Create a community health improvement plan that will serve as a blueprint for improving the health of the city over the next five years.

Engage partners, organizations, and individuals in creating a vision for a healthy Cambridge and making that vision a reality.

Become a nationally accredited local health department.

Findings from the survey, as well as focus groups and stakeholder interviews, will be published in a Community Health Assessment Report in early 2014. The report is expected to provide a portrait of the city’s strengths and assets, unmet health and social needs, current infrastructure for meeting these needs, and strategic opportunities for the future. The report will inform priorities that will be addressed in the forthcoming community health improvement plan.

For more information about the survey or to request printed copies, contact Stacey King at the Cambridge Public Health Department at seking@challiance.org or 617-665-3852.